Stormy weather causes outages, traffic issues in Seattle

Updated 5:30 pm, Friday, August 14, 2015

Rain and lighting hit Seattle throughout Friday afternoon, causing power outages and traffic jams during the busy rush hours.

Rain and lighting hit Seattle throughout Friday afternoon, causing power outages and traffic jams during the busy rush hours.

Photo: Courtesy KOMO/4

Stormy weather causes outages, traffic issues in Seattle

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Seattleites were rudely awakened from their summer daze Friday afternoon as the stormy weather brought several traffic issues compounded by power outages.

The rush-hour chaos occurred as 12s flocked to Sodo for the Seahawks' first preseason game of the year, festivalgoers headed for Seattle Hempfest on the Elliott Bay waterfront and commuters headed for home.

The National Weather Service's rain measurement for the Sea-Tac Airport came to 0.89 inches as of 4:53 p.m. The heavy rains prompted the National Weather Service to issue an Urban and Small Stream Flooding Advisory for the Puget Sound region.

Crashes happened at busy thoroughfares Friday afternoon such as the West Seattle Bridge, Martin Luther King, Jr. Way South and First Avenue at Battery Street. At one point, northbound state Route 99 was closed from First Avenue South to the West Seattle Bridge due to a utility pole fire. The highway has since reopened.

The fire was caused by a build up of dust during the dry spell before rain, according to Seattle City Light. When wet, the pole conducted electricity past the insulator.

Furthermore, about 3,250 Seattle City Light customers are in the dark as of 5 p.m. Friday due to fallen trees, equipment failures and lighting strikes. The outages have affected several traffic signals. The city Department of Transportation issued a reminder Friday afternoon to treat dark traffic signals as a four-way stop.

Traffic signals at six intersections on East Marginal Way South lost power, but several have been restored and crews are working to get power to any remaining dark signals, SDOT says.